In the voting on al.com, the Internet home of The Birmingham News, Ward, a University of Alabama graduate, edged "Friends" star and No. 1 seed Courteney Cox to advance in the television category. Ward is seeded fifth.

Flagg, a Birmingham native who is seeded sixth in the books division, defeated "In Cold Blood" author and No. 2 seed Truman Capote, who grew up in Monroeville.

Each of the three remaining No. 1 seeds moved on to the Elite Eight.

Georgiana's Hank Williams, the top seed in the music category, defeated Tuskegee's Lionel Richie and the Commodores by a two-to-one margin.

Williams now meets the country group Alabama, a second seed, who beat jazz crooner Nat "King" Cole of Montgomery.

Lee now goes against the sixth-seeded Flagg, whose upset of Capote eliminated the possibility of a Harper Lee-Truman Capote showdown. Lee and Capote grew up together and remained lifelong friends.

In the stage and screen category, "Saturday Night Fever" and "WarGames" director John Badham of Birmingham put an end to Mobile native Orlando Jones' Cinderella run. Jones, a character actor who has appeared in "Drumline" and "The Replacements," was a No. 13 seed.

The top-seeded Badham now meets the late Broadway and film star Tallulah Bankhead of Huntsville. Bankhead, a No. 3 seed, beat second-seeded Louise Fletcher, a Birmingham native and Oscar winner for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

In a clash of University of Alabama titans, Ward, the former UA cheerleader and homecoming queen, will meet Sylacauga's Jim Nabors, also an Alabama graduate, in the TV category.